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Crime & Safety

Copper Valve Thefts Up in Recent Weeks

Police say copper still remains of interest to thieves who want to sell it as scrap metal.

St. Charles police have noted that a rash of cooper thefts has been occurring in the last few weeks – coinciding a bit with the unseasonably warm early spring weather.

”It may have gotten people out in their yards and there noticing that cooper valve on the side of the house is missing,” said Lt. David Senter, public relations officer with the St. Charles Police Department on Friday.

In the last few weeks, Senter said police have gotten a number of reports from residents who have noticed cooper backflow valves – that regulate water and often on the side of their homes – are missing. 

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For example:

  •  A 71-year-old man reported someone cut the copper flow valve for a sprinkler system off of the side of his house at Prevot Ave. between March 4 and March 6.
  • A backflow regulator worth $1,100 reportedly stolen from the area near Sag Harbor sometime between Feb. 14 and March 7.
  • A backflow valve, worth $500, reported stolen from a building at Walters Way on May 12.
  • A copper backflow valve, also worth about $500, was cut from the side of a residence at Angelique sometime between March 1 and March 11. It was reported on March 11.

Nationally, thefts of copper--whether valves, wire, piping and even in catalytic converters in motor vehicles--have often reached epidemic proportions because of its worth as a scrap metal.

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Senter said police continue to investigate the incidents and have some leads that they hope may lead to arrests soon.

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